Fastening device.



No. 670,353. Patented Mar, I9, mm. 1 H. H. ABELL.

FASTENING DEVICE.

(Application fild Mar. 1, 1898.)

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HARRY H. ABELL, OF PORT EWEN, NEW YORK.

FASTENING DEVICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 670,353, dated March 19, 1901 Application filed Marchl, 1898- To erZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY H. ABELL, a citizen of theUnited States,residingat PortEwen, in the county of Ulster and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fastening Devices, of which the following is a full and complete specification, such as will enable those skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to shoe-lace fasteners; and the object thereof is to provide a device of this kind which will operate to confine the shoe-laces, and thereby prevent the unlacing of the shoe and obviate the necessity of tying a knot in the shoe-laces.

My fastener may alsobe applied to gloves and other articles wherein such device is of utility.

The invention consists of an improved fastener-buckle for shoe-laces, constructed substantially as hereinafter described, and defined in the claims.

The invention is fully disclosed in the following specification, of which the accompanying drawings forma part, in which the separate parts of my improvement are designated by the same letters of reference in each of the views, and in which- Figure 1 is a plan view of the improved fastener for shoe-laces in operative position upon a shoe, and Fig. 2 is an enlarged plan view of i the fastener detached from the shoe.

Referring to the drawings, A represents the improved fastener for shoe-laces,which is constructed, preferably, of metal and is a platestrip substantially rectangular in shape. The fastener is provided near its upper edge with a quadrilateral slot for the reception of a suitable fastening-clip b, by which the fastener is adapted to be secured to the upper portion of a shoe. By means of quadrilateral slot c the fastener-clip b may be attached in various Ways. The particular construction of the clip I) is not essential to my invention; but a clip of the kind'known as the Foster fastener has been found by experiment to give the best results, the fastening provisions used for fastening this lace-fastening device being the same as is used to fasten a hook to a glove, as shown in the Patent No. 297,980, of May 6, 1884.

Serial No. 672,161. 110 model.)

The lace-fastener A is provided with a downwardlyinclined recess a, which widens slightly toward its inner end, and the lacefastener below the recess is extended to form the division a of the lace-fastener A, the upper edge of which forms the lower edge of the recess a and is inclined at a slightlygreater degree of inclination than the upper edge of said recess. The lower edge of division 0, forms the exterior edge of the lace-fastener A and is parallel with the upper edge of said lace-fastener. The outer end of the division a of the lace-fastener A is by reason of this construction the widest part, as shown clearly in Fig. 2. The upper angle a of the division a of the lace-fastener is curved slightly from the outside of the shoe-upper, and the lower angle a of the divisiona of .the lace-fastener is bent slightly toward the outside of the shoe-upper. The conformation of the angle a facilitates the entrance of the lace beneath the lace-fastener and the conformation of the angle a facilitates passing the laces behind the division of a of the lace-fastener. The lower angle a of the lacefastener opposite the division a is curvilinear to facilitate the entrance of the laces beneath the fastener.

The fastener lies flat against the shoe and fits snugly thereto, thus preventing obstruction from catching the trousers. tener is secured to the upper portion of the shoe with the division a of the lace-fastener directed toward the front of the shoe. After the shoe is laced and the laces given a single tie the ends of the lacing-strings are brought around and passed under the curvilinear or rounded angle of the fastener. The laces will bear against the clip I) and in the recess a. The ends of the laces are then brought downwardly and slipped behind the division o of the lace-fastener, the curved upper angle a facilitating this operation, and brought firmly down to the end of the inclined recess a. The angle a being curved toward the inner surface aids in preventing the lacingstrings from swinging from under the division a of the lace-fastener.

It will be understood thatthe above construction causes the fastener to bind the laces against the shoe proportionally to the strain upon the laces. This is due to the fact that The fasas the strain increases the laces are drawn tightly about the fastener and the lace ends press tightly upon the laces which are beneath division a of the lace-fastener A.

Having fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. A fastening device for laces, consisting of a body portion having a projecting tongue lying in the same plane as said body portion and separated therefrom by an inclined recess, the outer end of said tongue being wider than the inner end and the upper and lower corners of said tongue being oppositely curved, said body portion being also provided with a slot adjacent to and parallel with the upper edge of said body portion, and means forsecuringthe device to a shoe, substantially as shown and described.

2. A fastening device for laces, consisting of a body portion having a projecting tongue lying in the same plane as said body portion, and separated therefrom by an inclined recess, the upper and lower corners of said tongue being slightly bent in opposite directions, and means for fastening the said fastening device, substantially as shown and described.

3. A fastening device for laces, consisting of a body portion having a slot in the upper part thereof, parallel with the upper edge thereof, and nearer to the upper edge thereof than to the lower edge of said body portion, a projecting tongue separated by an inclined recess from said body portion, the corner of the end portion of said tongue being bent toward the inner surface thereof, and means for fastening the said fastening device, substantially as shown and described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention Ihave signed my name, in presence of the subscribing Witnesses, this 26th day of February, 1898.

HARRY H. ABELL.

Witnesses:

L. M. MULLER, A. C. MoLoUGHLIN. 

